Synopsis
HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO BE SOMEONE ELSE?
Vanessa has always found it easy to pretend to be somebody different, somebody better. When things get tough in her real life, all she has to do is throw on some nicer clothes, adopt a new accent and she can escape.
That's how it started: looking round houses she couldn't possibly afford. Harmless fun really. Until it wasn't.
Because a man who lived in one of those houses is dead.
And everyone thinks Vanessa killed him...
Publisher information
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- ISBN: 9780241989098
- Number of pages: 336
- Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 20 mm
- Weight: 234g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
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Unnerving,Gripping & Utterly Brilliant!
The Perfect Life By @nualawrites is a gripping 5⭐ read, I don't want to say too much about the story as I doing want to give the plot away but it's utterly... READ MORE
Not the perfect book for me sadly.
I looked forward to reading The Perfect Life from the synopsis. However I struggled at times to keep my interest peaked. It’s not the worst book I’ve read... READ MORE
A very good Read
The Perfect Life is a real page turner,a psychological thriller that had me hooked from the very beginning. Vanessa is a very vulnerable young woman who l... READ MORE
Disappointing!
This book is not Nuala Ellwood 's best! I thought the characters were horrible, the storyline unbelievable and I got tired of all the 'darlings'. I have pr... READ MORE
Great read
Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC copy.
Vanessa loves to pretend to be other people. Making up the perfect lives with the perfect back stories to view the ... READ MORE
another great book
I always get excited when I see another one of Nuala Ellwood's books to read .... and yet again this book never failed to disappoint. The storyline was pag... READ MORE
Intriguing!
Nuala Ellwood never disappoints! What an intriguing story this was. I quite liked Vanessa - her sister, Georgie, is very protective of her; her best friend... READ MORE
Enjoyable
To be fair I wondered where the story was going with this book. I thought it was mainly about Vanessa, a successful woman. Who on meeting her boyfriend C... READ MORE
Intriguing
HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO BE SOMEONE ELSE?
Vanessa has always found it easy to pretend to be somebody different, somebody better. When things get tough in h... READ MORE
Superbly written psychological thriller!
I’d like to thank Penguin UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Perfect Life’ by Nuala Ellwood in exchange for my honest and unbiased... READ MORE
Great read.
I really enjoyed The Perfect Life by Nuala Ellwood. I found the story a little slow to start but it picked up the pace about half way through and I couldn'... READ MORE
Slow burner but worth the read
Vanessa misses her mother who she lost tragically when still quite young. She is close to her sister who is thirteen years older and has always looked afte... READ MORE
Not a perfect read.
Not a perfect read.
Vanessa Adams has a fantastic job – marketing for a cosmetics company called Luna. The finance officer of the company introduces Vane... READ MORE
Enjoyable read
A curiously enjoyable story that at times did lose me in places with the back and forward POV's - I think the published version will not have this problem ... READ MORE
Fast paced
Vanessa enjoys looking at homes she cannot afford. It is a harmless enough deception - pretending to be someone she isn't in order to look around houses fo... READ MORE
A Gripping Page Turner
Vanessa has aways found it easy to pretend to be somebody different, somebody better. When things get tough in her life, all she has to do is throw on some... READ MORE
Excellent read
Another excellent read from this excellent author. I really enjoyed this book. It a quick paced fast read that skips between timeframes. Vanessa creates p... READ MORE
Thrilling
The main character, Vanessa, suffers the loss of her mother at an early age which has a great impact on her life. She had enjoyed a happy childhood and wa... READ MORE
Psychological thriller with a gentle but inexorable pull
(Va)Nessa lost her mother when she was ten, and her apparently austere father barley features in her life, either before or since. Older sister Georgie b... READ MORE
A cracking read
What a thrilling read .I was hooked on this book from the first page it was a fascinating story with lots of twists and unexpected outcomes. When Vanessa m... READ MORE
Well written
This book is well written and I liked the main character, but there is a lot of back and forth between the recent past and the present. The main theme runn... READ MORE
Recommended
Another great read from this author. The Perfect Life centres around Vanessa who seems to have it all. She has the job she wants, the boyfriend, the best f... READ MORE
The Perfect Life
This looks quite generic psychological thriller - the title, the cover (how many back views of women in primary coloured coats can the market take?), the s... READ MORE
A chilling read!
Vanessa Adams (Nessa) is in search of the perfect life but when she meets Connor everything changes. Her older sister, Georgie is the stability she so desp... READ MORE
Psychological thriller
Vanessa has a wonderful job that she loves and now she meets a new boyfriend and life appears near perfect. She starts to think about buying a house toget... READ MORE
Love love love
Read this in a day, such an easy read and really enjoyable!
Such a true message behind it and I hope lots of people take this message on board! Love love l... READ MORE
Tense and engaging plot
A tense and engaging plot which will keep you wondering right up to the last pages about where and how this is going to end. Totally believable characters ... READ MORE
A gripping read
This is my third Nuala Elwood book, and they’ve all been 5 stars for me, cementing her as one of my favourite authors.
This book tells the story of Vanessa... READ MORE
Disappointing
Thanks to Netgalley for my copy of The Perfect Life. It's difficult to give a 'proper' review without spoiling it for other readers so I think I'll just s... READ MORE
Good, dark story
Vanessa likes to escape from her everyday life by posing as a potential buyer of property. But one day things go a step too far, when she visits the home o... READ MORE
A well plotted psychological thriller….
- Have you ever wanted to be someone else? When things get tough in Vanessa’s life, she adopts a different persona and looks around houses she couldn’t pos... READ MORE
Exceeded my expectations
Exceeded my expectations. I thought this would be a readable psychological thriller, but it was this and more. I loved the way it weaved in aspects of chil... READ MORE
Gripping
Fast paced and thrilling, I had trouble putting this book down. Nuala Ellwood knows how to get the reader enthralled from the start.
This story had a lot ... READ MORE
Riveting read
Gripped throughout. I loved this twisty tale with its roots in a child's ghost story. Creepy and intriguing right to the end.
I RACED THROUGH THE PAGES!! IT'S BRILLIANT!! UNPUTDOWNABLE!!.
I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me from the beginning and I raced though it. It's a brilliant, psychological read. The characters are believable an... READ MORE
A real page turner.
Crikey! What a page turner, I couldn’t put it down as I found myself wondering what Vanessa had or hadn't done. She lead a secret addiction to viewing ho... READ MORE
An entertaining novel
Ever since her mother died when she was a little girl, fragile Vanessa Adams has been in search of happiness. Her wonderful older sister Georgie does her a... READ MORE
A perfect psychological thriller with all the elements you want in such a book
The Perfect Life is the perfect psychological thriller – lots of plot, twists and turns and a real page turner. The main character is Vanessa, known as Ne... READ MORE
Brilliant
This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I will definitely be reading more.
Vanessa has an unusual hobby – she views houses for sale that are w... READ MORE
An excellent read
This was an excellent read. What started as a harmless thing to do - looking at houses she couldn't afford - it turned out to be quite the opposite. A de... READ MORE
Very believable fast-paced, psychological thriller.
What an interesting, intriguing, dark read! The main character Vanessa (Nessa) is still learning to cope after the tragedy of the death of her mother at an... READ MORE
SLOW START.....
For me, this novel was a slow start. The main character, Vanessa Adams is really annoying. I was shouting at the pages! She cannot be for real! Vanessa... READ MORE
Great characters
A really interesting read and I particularly enjoyed the childhood memories woven throughout the story. Great characters and a surprising ending. Recomme... READ MORE
A tense and engaging plot
A tense and engaging plot which will keep you wondering right up to the last pages about where and how this is going to end. Totally believable characters ... READ MORE
A good read
Vanessa (Nessa) lost her mother at an early age and not having much of a relationship with her father relied heavily on her elder adult sister Georgia and ... READ MORE
Intriguing read
Vanessa Adams has struggled since losing her mum at a very young age, her older sister Georgie has been her rock since then but Vanessa needs more, her esc... READ MORE
Too many timelines and stories
If you love a big story with tension and psychology in every corner you will love this book..
This is the story of Vanessa - who is also Iris, also Imogen,... READ MORE
A good read
Vanessa is the main character & the story is told in the first person, from her perspective. Early in the book, she meets Connor & this relationship puts a... READ MORE
Addictive right till the end
Vanessa is forever looking for happiness ever since she lost her mother at an early age. One of her favorite pastimes s viewing houses that she can't affor... READ MORE
Great read.
The Perfect Life by Nuala Ellwood.
Really enjoyed this book , it was full is suspense . Interesting characters . The characters could easily be used in a... READ MORE
Great Read
My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Penguin UK for the ARC.
I really enjoyed this book. It has an unusual and absorbing storyline focussed on Vanessa Ad... READ MORE
A very entertaining read
Ever since her mother died when she was a little girl, fragile Vanessa Adams has been in search of happiness. Her wonderful older sister Georgie does her a... READ MORE
A fast-paced and entertaining read
The Perfect Life is a gripping psychological thriller that will have you questioning everything that you read.
Alternating between the Then and Now, the p... READ MORE
A believable story
Vanessa seems to have it all apart from a boyfriend. When she meets Connor after an evening at the theatre with her best friend, he seems like her perfect... READ MORE
Great read
This is a story told over 2 timelines.
Lots of twists that surprised me - great book
My first time reading books by Nuala Ellwood and I will certainly be l... READ MORE
Couldn’t put down
I was given this book for free in return for an honest review. This story had me guessing right until the end. I couldn’t read it at bedtime because I just... READ MORE
Good beginning, but didn't fulfil its promise
I enjoyed the beginning of this book, and the writing was fast paced enough to keep me reading to the end. However I did find it difficult to completely un... READ MORE
Excellent contemporary thriller
Vanessa seems to be at the happiest point of her life: her career is on the up, & her relationship with boyfriend Connor is going from strength to strength... READ MORE
Superbly written psychological thriller!
I’d like to thank Penguin UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Perfect Life’ by Nuala Ellwood in exchange for my honest and unbiased... READ MORE
Fast paced thriller
This really is a fast paced psychological thriller told over two timelines. The present as Vanessa is suspected of murder, and the then as we get the back... READ MORE
A great psychological thriller
I got The Perfect life by Nuala Ellwood from NetGalley for a fair and honest review.
The Perfect life is one of those books which on the outside is a domes... READ MORE
Brilliant!
This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I will definitely be reading more.
Vanessa has an unusual hobby – she views houses for sale that are w... READ MORE
Fabulous!
Vanessa likes to spend time being someone different to herself and enjoys viewing houses of her dreams that she can't afford in a million years. What start... READ MORE
A gripping read
I have been a fan of Nuala’s work for a while now. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed every book that she has released to date. When I read the synopsis o... READ MORE
A gripping read that is so addictive you’ll struggle to put it down!
This is the first book that I’ve read by Nuala Ellwood and it definitely won’t be my last, I devoured this book in just two days! As much as I love reading... READ MORE
Lots of twists and turns
My second book by Nuala Ellwood and it is a cliff hanger. Vanessa likes to assume a different identity and loves to view houses that are for sale with no i... READ MORE
Psychological thriller
The Perfect Wife is a psychological thriller that deals with several topical issues. The main character Nessa comes across as quite needy and vulnerable, d... READ MORE
Thrilling
Fast paced and thrilling, I had trouble putting this book down. Nuala Ellwood knows how to get the reader enthralled from the start.
This story had a lot ... READ MORE
A well-paced and absorbing thriller
Vanessa had an exciting, somewhat glamorous job and a loving fiance - till it all went wrong. Now she's living with her sister, but still dreams of a home ... READ MORE
Suspenseful Thriller
The Perfect Life by Nuala Ellwood
Pub Date 5 August 2021
HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO BE SOMEONE ELSE?
Vanessa has always found it easy to pretend to be somebod... READ MORE
Slow paced but interesting
Vanessa's life is all coming together rather well. Her parents died when she was young and her elder sister brought her up, now she's got a good job and sh... READ MORE
Entertaining read but I felt that there were a few holes in the overall plot.
I have previously read 'Day of the Accident' by Nuala Ellwood and loved it so had high hopes for this one. In all honesty it wasn't as good as the previous... READ MORE
A bit Implausible
3.5 stars.
This is told from the now and then. Vanessa has a fantastic job and a loving boyfriend but why does it all go wrong?
Vanessa's life starts to sp... READ MORE
Thrilling and chilling
I've loved all of Nuala Ellwood's previous books and The Perfect Life is no exception. It's incredibly fast-paced and I raced through it.
This is the sto... READ MORE
Kept me guessing
This is the story of Ness. Ness is in her early 30’s and shares a flat with her best friend Lottie. She has a job that she loves and her big sister who she... READ MORE
Intriguing!
Nuala Ellwood never disappoints! What an intriguing story this was. I quite liked Vanessa - her sister, Georgie, is very protective of her; her best friend... READ MORE
Thoroughly gripping!
There’s a real atmosphere throughout this book of something dark and menacing. Vanessa appears to have completely lost any sense of reality - murder, psych... READ MORE
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